


The Winter's Christmas

by Candy_Kittens



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky doesn't like winter, Bucky isn't really a fan of Christmas, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grumpy Bucky Barnes, Implied Sexual Content, Light Angst, M/M, Mentions of the past, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sexual References, Steve and Bucky's first Christmas together in the 21st Century, Steve has good intentions, Steve just wants Bucky to be happy, mild sexual references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-14 14:31:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13009839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Candy_Kittens/pseuds/Candy_Kittens
Summary: Stucky Christmas fluffSteve and Bucky's first Christmas together in over seventy years.also posted on my Wattpad account, @-hawkwing(was @Punkstress_Gaskarth)





	1. Bucky Hates The Snow

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, I'm back at it with another Christmas fic this year like last year! But this year it's a Stucky, unlike last year which was an Evanstan.
> 
> Now, this is only going to be ten chapters long, and will be updated from now _(December 15th)_ until Christmas day _(I'm sure you all know what day that is... right?)_. I've got most chapters pre-written already, so I'm hopeful that I'll be able to stick to schedule for this fic. If not, then it'll be finished by at least December 31st.
> 
> Okay... Now I hope you all enjoy this fic!!
> 
>  
> 
> also posted onto my Wattpad account, @-hawkwing _(was @Punkstress_Gaskarth)_

"Why do we have to do this?" Bucky grumbles, trailing along behind Steve, who thought it would be a wonderful idea to go out skiing with the rest of the Avengers. "You know that I hate the fucking snow."

Bucky _really_ hates snow, and he can't believe that Steve even suggested that they all go out skiing. Steve's known him since they were young, he should know that he hates the snow by now.

Granted that one if the reasons Bucky hated snow back in the 20s and 30s, was the fact that it caused Steve to be bed ridden with the cold almost every day. Any one of those days could've been Steve's last.

Now though, he still hates the snow, and just finds it a right nuisance. And because it's way too cold for him. He's always been cold ever since Hydra, but during winter when it's snowing like it is now, it makes it just that much colder for him. Plus, the cold stuffs up his arm, and it's never fun waking up to frost covering his left arm, making the metal cold to the touch and sometimes a little stiff to move.

"Come on, Bucky! It'll be fun!" Steve says, as the two of them get into the van where the rest of the Avengers are waiting.

"Our first Christmas together in over seventy years, and you decide we should go fucking skiing?" Bucky asks. "I want to go somewhere sunny! Somewhere where there's a beach and absolutely no snow whatsoever."

"And then you'd complain about the heat, Buck." Steve says.

"I don't care." Bucky grumbles, pulling his hood up over his head, and hugging his jacket on more. "The heat is better than the cold."

"Tell ya what." Steve starts, putting an arm around Bucky's shoulders and pulling him closer to him a little. "Next year, we'll travel to New Zealand for Christmas. How about that? Christmas is in summer there, so no snow."

Bucky looks over at Steve at that. He definitely likes the sound of that. No snow, and Christmas in the summer, not winter? Now that sounds more ideal to him. He absolutely hates the cold, and New Zealand sounds like a great place to go for Christmas.

"New Zealand." He nods. "Is that the place where those Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies were filmed that you showed me?"

Steve nods. "Yes. It is the place."

"Well then. In that case, yes." Bucky decides. "We're going there for Christmas next year." He says. "And we're going to visit Hobbiton. No arguments about it."

"Sure thing, Buck." Steve says.

Resting his head on Steve's shoulder and hugging his jacket closer to him, Bucky tries to get as much warmth as he possibly can. With all the body heat radiating off Steve, it kind of works, but not a hell of a lot. He's still cold, even with the amount of clothes that he's wearing.

He blames the coldness of his body from being in and out of cryofreeze. Though, he's not entirely sure if that's really the reason or not. Steve was frozen for nearly seventy years, and he doesn't seem to be as cold as Bucky is. Maybe being in cryo fucked with his body a bit. _No..._ It's more than likely that being in cryo so many times _did_ fuck with his body in some way.

"Can someone turn the heater on in here?" Bucky asks, calling up to the front of the van, where he thinks Clint and Natasha are. "It's fucking freezing in here." He shivers.

"The heater _is_ on, James." Natasha calls from up front. "There might be a blanket back there if you're cold."

"A blanket ain't gonna help all that much, Nat." Bucky says.

He takes the blanket from Wanda anyway, as she passes it on over to him from the seat behind himself and Steve where she sat with Sam. The blanket may not help all that much, but he's still going to use it.

"How long till we get to this ski lodge place anyway?" He asks. "And why couldn't we take a better vehicle than this piece of crap? I'm sure Stark has better vehicles in his garage than this."

"Because Stark doesn't trust Clint with driving one of his expensive cars." Natasha answers. "Besides, this van fits more than the rest of the cars in the garage would." She adds.

"And yet we still had to all split up into two different vehicles." Bucky points out.

Bucky stays silent after that, as Natasha turns round to look over at him. He definitely doesn't want to get on Natasha's bad side. He may be bigger than her, and stronger, but Natasha sure does manage to pack a punch. Not to mention she's a lot more lithe than he is.

So all Bucky does, is decide to sit and sulk in silence and hope that the next few days go by quickly. He's not really interested in going out skiing, and especially not interested in being out in the snow at all. All he want to do, is go back home, and curl up on the couch with many blankets and the fire going as he lays out on the couch with a large mug of hot coffee as he binge watches more of a show that he had discovered near the beginning of the year not long after coming out of cryo, and has really gotten into (and already rewatched plenty of times), about a group of people who survived a plane crash onto some weird as fuck island.

Unfortunately he's stuck having to go out skiing. Skiing isn't something that's in his skill set - as far as he's aware of at least - and he'd rather be back at home binge watching LOST. At least he knows exactly what he's going to be doing as soon as they return home back to Avengers tower...

He just wishes that these next few days go by fast so he can get back home quicker....


	2. The Winter Soldier And Skiing Don't Mix Well...

"Fuck this!" Bucky declares, struggling to get back up after falling over into the snow for what feels like the millionth time now. "I can't do this shit!" He says.

He ignores the others as they start laughing at him, after skiing down towards where he had fallen over onto the snow. He glares at them all as he gets up, throwing the ski equipment to the snow, before trudging back on through the snow to get back towards their cabin.

Skiing and the Winter Soldier don't mix, and Bucky never wants to have to do that ever again. He doesn't understand why they couldn't just go somewhere away from the snow, not go straight to where the snow is.

He has to wonder who exactly put this stupid idea into Steve's head. He's thinking Tony. Tony or Natasha. Or maybe even the both of them.

"Bucky, wait up!" Steve calls out.

Bucky doesn't turn to look at him, just continues on walking, and trying not to fall face first into the snow. For someone called the Winter Soldier, he certainly isn't one to enjoy winter. Especially the snow.

"Come on, Bucky, wait up!" Steve calls, catching up to him. "Are you okay?"

This makes him stop, and turn to glare at Steve, as he pulls his arm free from Steve's hold. "No, Rogers. I'm not okay." He starts. "I can't ski, I hate snow, and I don't want to be here right now!" He yells. "It's way to fucking cold here, and I'm going back to our cabin to get warm before I freeze."

His outburst causes Steve to back away from him, and Bucky instantly finds himself feeling apologetic. He didn't mean to yell at him, but Steve knows very well that he hates the snow, so why choose to go here of all places for a couple days?

"Steve, I'm sorry." He sighs, looking down at his shoes and shaking his head. "I just... The cold affects me more now after having gone in and out of cryo during the time Hydra had me."

He looks up as Steve moves closer to him and wraps his arms around him. "It's okay, Buck." He sighs. "I'm sorry. I should've known that something like this might've happened." He says. "All I was trying to do, is something nice, and for us all to just have fun. I guess I just didn't take into consideration how much the cold may affect you."

Bucky shakes his head, finally looking up at Steve as he stands there in his hold shivering. He knows that Steve meant well with this whole weekend away with the rest of the Avengers. He understands that Steve doesn't know the full extent of how much the cold affects him.

Hell, he barely knows the full extent himself. All he knows is that he feels the cold way more than everyone else, and sometimes - especially on very cold days - it fucks up his prosthetic arm. Metal and cold do not mix, and his metal prosthetic is more often than not cold to the touch in this weather. And Bucky absolutely hates it.

"It's okay, Stevie." He sighs. "The cold weather just fucks me up more than anyone else because of being in cryofreeze on and off for about seventy years. I think half the time when Hydra sent me out on missions, my body was barely finished defrosting."

He doesn't like to think about his time under Hydra's control, but he still remembers almost every little detail of what they made him do, and he clearly remembers every single person that they made him kill. Honestly, he's believes that Hydra had programmed him to remember every person he's ever hurt or killed. It wouldn't surprise him if they did. It _really_ wouldn't.

"I promise that next year we'll go somewhere warm for Christmas." Steve assures him. "Just the two of us. We can go to New Zealand. Have Christmas in summer for once."

Bucky smiles at that. He likes the idea of that, and he's going to make damn sure that Steve keeps to his word of them travelling to a different country for Christmas next year, and New Zealand sounds like a beautiful place to go. Not to mention Bucky has developed a love for the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit movies (along with the books), and he's dying to go visit the country where the movies are filmed.

"If we don't somehow end up dying before Christmas next year." Bucky huffs. "We better still be alive by then."

Steve nods. "I'm sure we'll be somewhat fine until then." He says, not really believing himself.

A lot can happen between now and next Christmas after all. Either one of them could find them self dead before then. Bucky wouldn't be surprised if he's the one to end up dead or locked up before next Christmas.

"You wanna head back to our cabin, or go back to the others and give skiing another go?" Steve asks.

Bucky has to think it over for a bit. Should he go and give skiing another shot and try and put up with the cold and snow, or should he go back to their cabin and get warm? He's not really wanting to disappoint Steve by not trying, and having fun - god knows when the last time he had fun was - but he also doesn't want to freeze anymore than he already has.

"I think I'd like to give skiing one more shot." He decides, making up his mind on what he's wanting to do.

He might as well have some fun after all, even if it's not something that he's very comfortable with, and thinks he's a failure at. In his defence though, he never did anything like this growing up, so this is something new for him, and he had kind of made a list of new things that he wants to tryout. Though, skiing wasn't one of them.

And with falling down in the snow for, he's not even sure of how many times, Bucky finds himself enjoying himself and having fun. But also knowing one thing for sure... That the Winter Soldier and skiing definitely do not mix very well at all...


	3. Hot Coffee By The Fire

Later on during the day once all the Avengers had enough of skiing, they all went back into their cabin - a rather large one to fit them all into - and Bucky was quick to make his way over to the fireplace and start a fire after getting changed into sweatpants and an oversized sweater. He had thought it would be a good idea to get a sweater that was a few sizes too big for him, much to Steve's protests.

The heat emitting from the fire warmed him up just enough to stop his constant shivering, but he still felt a little cold. Except, he doesn't want to get up off the floor to get a blanket.

"Steve!" He calls out. "Can you get me a blanket?" He asks. "I'm still cold."

From where Steve sat at the table in the kitchen area of the cabin talking with Tony, he looks over to see Bucky calling out to him from where he sat by the fire.

"Peter?" Steve looks over to where Peter and his friend Ned (who Peter had practically begged Tony to let him invite with them on their skiing trip), sitting together on the floor by one of the couches finishing up the homework they were given to complete over the Christmas break.

"Yeah, Steve?" Peter asks, looking up towards Steve.

"Can you go get a blanket for Bucky?" He asks. "And while you're at it, you might as well grab the book out of his bag that he brought with him."

Peter's eyes widen at that, before he's looking over towards Bucky sitting by the fire. Even though they've been on the same team for awhile now, Bucky still frightens Peter a little, and Peter usually does whatever he can do to stay away from the guy most of the time.

"M-me?" Peter squeaks.

Steve nods. "Yes. Please? He won't hurt you." He assures him.

Peter goes to protest, but the look that Tony sends his way shuts him up. "Come on." He says, pulling Ned up off the floor with him.

As soon as both Peter and Ned make their way over to Bucky with a blanket and his book, Insomnia by Stephen King, Bucky looks a little surprised to see that Steve had gotten that spider kid, Peter and his friend to get him a blanket instead of himself getting it. He glances over to Steve, who was still sitting a the table in the kitchen area talking with Tony. Bucky supposes that's why Steve got Peter to get him a blanket instead.

"Uh, Steve asked us to get these for you." Peter says nervously, setting the blanket down in front of Bucky, while Ned sets the book down on top of it before backing away slowly.

"Thank you." Bucky nods, smiling a little at them, as he grabs the blanket and wraps it around himself. He then looks back up at both Peter and Ned, and frowns a little as he notices that they look afraid of him. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know." He says, looking down at his lap.

He knows very well that there's still people who are afraid of him, and with good reason too. He was one of the most dangerous assassins, and worked under Hydra. Though he didn't really have much choice to do so, as Hydra had control of his mind, and made him do things that he regrets.

"We know, it's just well, you're just kinda scary." Peter says. "And the whole Hydra thing..." He trails off.

Bucky nods. He can understand how they'd feel that way, he'd probably think the same thing if he were them, or just some plain old civilian.

Maybe if he _was_ just some old civilian, things would be so much easier. Then again, he wouldn't be with Steve...

"I know." He nods, looking up at them. "But all of why Hydra put inside me is all gone." He says. "Well, according to T'Challa and his scientists anyway." He adds. "So you needn't worry about me going full Winter Soldier mode and doing anyone harm."

Both Peter and Ned nod, before excusing themselves to go back to finish off their homework. Bucky can't help but feel sorry for them to have to do homework while on break,but he has no clue on how schools run these days. Everything was so much different back in his day, and he barely even understands this day and age.

Sighing, he wraps the blanket around himself more, before picking up his book. Since he can't finish binge watching his show right now like he'd very much like to do, he's going to have to do a bit of reading.

Not that he's complaining about that at all. He still loves reading, and is honestly amazed by all the new and different books now that he's just dying to start reading. And he's most definitely taken a liking to Stephen King's work, and J.R.R. Tolkien's work.

Though, he vaguely remembers reading one of Tolkien's books before. He vaguely remembers reading the Hobbit back in the 30s not long after it was first published.

It amazes him how a book like the Hobbit that was published back when he was probably about 19 or 20, is still very well loved today, along with its sequel, the Lord of the Rings. Which he unfortunately wasn't around to get to read when it was first published, seeing as he was supposed to have perished falling of the train ten years before the first part of the Lord of the Rings was released.

But now he's caught up on mostly everything Tolkien, and absolutely adores the movie adaptations of both the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Though, he does prefers the books over the movies, as he's more into books than he is movies.

As he's busy heading his book, he tries his best to block out all the noise around him. It's an easy enough task, as everyone is doing their own thing, and not doing anything to disrupt him. Which he's glad for, he _really_ is. He would've thought there'd be a lot more noise than there is right now, considering how many of them there are in this cabin. Though he's got to admit that he's thankful for Tony renting out the biggest and the most expensive cabin.

He's not too sure how long he's been sitting there by the fire reading, but when he finally looks up, he finds Steve sitting down next to him with two mugs of coffee and a large block of chocolate. And oh how that makes Bucky crave some coffee and chocolate right now.

"Oh, please tell me those are for me." He says, eyeing up the chocolate and one of t mugs of coffee Steve is holding.

Steve laughs at that, handing over one of the mugs to Bucky, along with the block of chocolate.

"You think I'm that bad of a boyfriend to not make you coffee and give you chocolate?" Steve asks, acting hurt.

"Oh, shut it, ya punk." Bucky says, eyeing Steve lovingly, before taking a sip of the his hot coffee.

Steve smiles back at him. "Make me, jerk." He says.

"As soon as we get home, punk." Bucky promises, as he sets his mug of coffee down on the floor next to his book, and the large block of chocolate.

He moves around a little on the floor, so he's leaning up against Steve with the blanket around both of them, and one of Steve's arms securely around his waist. This position the two of them are now in, is definitely helping Bucky stay warm from all the body heat radiation off Steve.

"I could throw up just by looking at you both."

They both look up to see Natasha standing in front of them with her own mug of coffee in one hand, before she's sitting down next to them.

"Oh, shut it, Nat." Bucky says, grabbing his mug of coffee and taking a long sip, wincing as the hotness burns his mouth. "I could easily take a photo of you right now in your pyjamas and post it to my Instagram, or the shared Avengers Instagram."

Natasha glares at him, and Bucky has to stop himself from laughing at how cute that looked, considering that Natasha, one of the world's most deadly assassins, was wearing fucking Care Bears pyjamas. And the only reason he knows that it's Care Bears pyjamas, is because he happened to stumble upon Natasha stretched out on the couch back in the main living room in Avengers Tower, watching the Care Bears. And, that somehow ended up in him watching it too and actually enjoying it.

"You barely even know how to work Instagram, let alone your own phone." Natasha says.

"Not my fault that I never grew up in a world with all this fancy as shit technology." Bucky retorts.

"That's because you're old as fuck." She shoots back.

Bucky goes to retaliate, but as a matter of fact, she _is_ right with that. He may not look it, but he is old. So is Steve. But would they bother really be their ages by the calendar years, or the age they physically look and feel? Bucky isn't too sure. If they go by their ages by the calendar years, he would be 100, while Steve would be 99. Then the ages they both look and feel, well, he's not entirely sure what that would be, early thirties maybe? He's not too sure. It's probably easier to keep up with their ages going from the calendar years. Sometimes he even feels like he's all those years.

"Well, you're not wrong." He says. "And sometimes I feel all 100 of those years."

Natasha nods. "Yeah, I bet you do, James." She says.

They don't say anything else, and Bucky just sits back against Steve by the fire drinking his mug of coffee while snacking on the block of chocolate. Now, even though he may not like winter at all, this right here, is his idea winter night. Cuddled up or leaning up against Steve on the floor in front of the fire with a blanket around him while drinking a mug of hot coffee and eating chocolate.

_This_ is the only thing he can really find himself enjoying during the winter season. Everything else about it, he absolutely hates.

But this... This is very nice.


	4. Bucky Can Finally Get Back To Binge Watching His Show

"Home, sweet home." Is the first thing that Bucky says, as he and Steve get off the elevator onto their floor in Avengers tower.

They had only just come back from their skiing trip with the rest of the Avengers, and Bucky sure is glad to be back home. And now he can binge watch more of his show, and just hide away on his and Steve's floor and try and get out of meetings with the others which he really has no desire to attend.

"Bucky, are you really just going to sit there and watch more LOST again?" Steve asks, glancing over to find Bucky already stretched out on the couch, TV remote in hand as he goes through Netflix to put on LOST.

"You bet I am, Stevie." He says. "Can you go out and get me some food?" He asks, glancing over the side of the couch towards Steve.

Steve stops what he's doing to stare at Bucky. He knew that Bucky would ask him to go get food for him. Once Bucky is hooked on something, it's difficult to get him off it to go do things, and this TV show, LOST, is no different. And, he's already watched it three times now... This being the fourth time around.

"Fine." Steve sighs. "What do you want?" He asks.

Bucky shrugs. "Do we have any chocolate or chips in the pantry?" He asks.

"I'll go have a look." Steve says, before returning back a few minutes later with a large bag of chips and a large block of chocolate. "They're the last ones that are in the pantry, so unless you've got some stashed away in your secret hiding spot, we'll have to go out to the store to get more." He says.

Bucky nods, taking them from Steve. "Wait, how do you know about my secret hiding spot?" He asks.

Steve shrugs, not answering the question as he sits down on the couch next to Bucky. It's not really much of a surprise that Bucky has a secret hiding spot where he hides stuff away from Steve and the others.

Though, all that's really hidden in there, is food, which really isn't that surprising. Steve has noted that ever since Bucky got out of cryofreeze after T'Challa and the Wakandan scientists had removed whatever programming Hydra had put inside him, Bucky has developed a major sweet tooth. After Bucky had heard about all the great new food options - especially regarding chocolate and sweets - he had tried every different type that he could get his hands on, and he now has a stash of them somewhere on their floor of the tower.

The only problem is, that Bucky can only go out to the store to stock up during the day, as he's not allowed out of the tower by himself during the night. That was the condition he was granted in court instead of being sent straight to the underwater prison facility, which neither of them can actually remember the actual name of. So, even if he was technically cleared of all charges for the crimes he had committed under Hydra's control that he was forced to do, there's still rules he has to go by, as he's still considered a danger to society.

Bucky is with Steve most of the time anyway, so there's not really much if a way he can violate the rules set in place for him by the government. He barely even leaves the tower for missions, as he's never put on any unless Steve is on them too, or it's an all hands on deck situation.

Because of the rules that he has to follow, Bucky feels as though he and Steve won't be able to travel to New Zealand for Christmas next year. It was already a mission for him to be allowed to go on that skiing trip with the rest of the Avengers, so he can't imagine how difficult it will be for him to be allowed to leave the country for Christmas next year. _If_ they're not dead before then...

"What episode is this?" Steve asks, as Bucky moves around on the couch so his head is resting on Steve's lap.

"The one where Hurley finds the van full of old Dharma beer out in the jungle." He says, shoving a handful of potato chips in his mouth.

Steve just nods, sitting back on the couch to watch the show with Bucky. He's not going to deny that he enjoys the show too. Just, maybe not as much as Bucky does...

"You know." Steve starts, running his fingers through Bucky's hair. "You don't have to keep rewatching the same show over and over again."

"I don't though." Bucky says, turning around a little to look up at Steve. "I just recently finished all of Sons of Anarchy a couple weeks ago."

"And now you're back on LOST, and are already about halfway through the third season." Steve states.

"Well, there isn't really much I can do when I'm stuck here most of the time since I can't go out on missions unless it's with you, or it's an all hands on deck situation." He reminds him. "And I can't leave the tower at night unless I'm accompanied by someone, _and_ I can't really leave the tower that much during the day either."

"You can leave the tower during the day by yourself though, Buck." Steve reminds him.

That causes Bucky to narrow his eyes a little. That was in the privileges he was given? He _can_ leave the tower during the day by himself? He doesn't quite remember that part, though he still has trouble remembering certain things.

"Wait, so I can stop getting you or Sam to accompany me whenever I go outside of the tower for the day?" He asks, to which Steve nods. "Well that's a relief." Bucky sighs. "No longer have to take the bird with me any more then."

Both Bucky and Sam Wilson still have a like-hate relation with each other. Their moods with each other always range from wanting to kill one another, to being almost like best of friends. It almost seems to amuse the others, or at least Steve. But both Bucky and Sam wouldn't have their friendship any other way. Which would come as a shock to most people, but their friendship works on a like-hate basis, and that's all that matters to them. But really, all they do, is play jokes on each other, it's not like their at each other's throats twenty four seven. If that were the case, then they wouldn't even be allowed in the same room as each other, let alone living together in the same tower.

"You know you'll still get Sam or I to go outside with you during the day anyway, seeing as you still barely know how to use credit cards." Steve points out.

"Well sorry for being all old fashioned and preferring to use cash." Bucky says. "Just because you had the time to learn how to use them, doesn't mean I had the time to learn to use them. And besides, don't you remember what happened when I tried to order something online?"

Steve nods. "Yes, but all you had to do with that, was type in the numbers on the back of the card. It's not that difficult to use them online. You got that part right." He says. "What you fucked up on, was ordering way too many copies of the same book." He reminds him. "We've still got two boxes full of the exact same book in the hallway closet. And no, we can't just gift a copy of the same book to the others."

"To be fair though, Steve. You shouldn't have left me unsupervised with your laptop and your credit card." Bucky says, knowing very well that he's guilty of ordering thirty copies of the exact same book.

He's not even sure how he even managed to do that in the first place, but now there's twenty eight copies of Watership Down sitting in two boxes in their hallway closet. Twenty eight, because one is sitting on their shared bookshelf in their living room, and because Bucky had given one to Wanda, seeing as she was the one who had recommended the book to him.

"Or you could've asked me or someone else in the tower to help you order yourself a copy." Steve says.

"Well at least I know for next time, aye?" He says. "Now shut up so I can watch LOST."

They don't say any more after that, and just sit back together on the couch watching LOST. Though, halfway through the next episode, Bucky had gotten Steve to get up and put the fire on and get him a blanket because it was too cold... Then of course he had to get up _again_ to make Bucky a coffee...

But Steve does as Bucky asks without arguing, because at the end of the day, all Steve wants is for Bucky to be as comfortable and as happy as he can possibly be. It's now Steve's turn to look after Bucky, just as Bucky had done with him all those many years ago - that to them both was really only maybe like five or six years ago - back in Brooklyn.

And Steve won't ever stop caring for and loving Bucky. _Even when he's dead and gone...._


	5. The Winter Soldier Vs. Christmas Lights

"I don't see why we even have to put this tree up, Steve." Bucky sighs, as he helps Steve carry a large Christmas tree through the tower and into the main living room floor where the others are waiting for them. "And why get us to carry the tree?" He asks. "I'm sure Thor would be able to carry it just fine instead of us. Or Bruce could've gone all Hulk and gotten Hulk to carry it."

Steve can't help but laugh a little at that last part. Bucky hasn't really seen the Hulk all that much, only when they absolutely need to use code green. A lot of the time, Bruce has no need to Hulk out. Which is probably a good thing.

"Bucky, I don't think Bruce Hulking out would be a very good thing." He says.

"Just a suggestion." Bucky says, adjusting his hold on the tree, as they climb up what is hopefully the last flight of stairs to get into the living room where the others are waiting.

Thankfully, it was the last flight of stairs they had to climb up, and as soon as the two of them reach the living room, they set the tree down where Tony instructs them to. Bucky never wants to carry a Christmas tree up that many flights of stairs ever again.

He also doesn't see why they didn't just get a fake Christmas tree. Knowing Steve or one of the others, getting a fake one won't look and feel as great as a real tree.

Bucky could honestly care less if it looked good or not. A fake Christmas tree just would've been a hell of a lot easier, especially when they're just going to have to take it down again in like a months time.

Actually, he just wouldn't give a damn if they didn't even have a tree. He and Steve never really had a tree for Christmas back in the 30s. Or if they did, it would be half dead.

"I'm just gonna sit out of the way while the rest of you decorate the tree." Bucky says, retreating off to the couch.

"Frosty, get your ass back here, and help decorate the tree." Tony says.

"You're not the boss of me, Stark." Bucky says.

"It's my tower you're living in." He says. "And if it weren't for me, you'd be in a prison cell."

Bucky goes to say more, but he supposes that Tony is right with what he said. If it wasn't for Tony, he'd be in prison or probably dead. Instead because of Tony, he gets to stay in Avengers tower, but still has to follow some rules that have been set in place for him.

It only seems fair that there's rules that he has to go by, and at least he's not confined to the tower twenty four seven. He's not too sure how he'd cope being locked in the tower twenty four seven. Then again, if he was, then he'd probably just spend his time watching Netflix and reading. He already does that now most do the time anyway, so maybe it wouldn't be too difficult for him.

"Tony." Steve starts, looking between Tony and Bucky. "Just, don't." He says. "Please."

"No, he's right, Steve." Bucky says, getting up off the couch and walking over to him. "If it weren't for him, I _would_ be in a prison cell."

"Yes, but he doesn't need to keep on saying it." He says.

Bucky shakes his head, patting Steve on the back. He knows that Steve doesn't quite like it when he keeps reminding ten that if it weren't for them, that Bucky would be in a prison cell, where a lot of people think he belongs. Bucky even thinks he belongs in one even though he want exactly responsible for the death of all e people he had killed when Hydra had control of his mind.

"I know, Steve." He says, leaning in and kissing his cheek. "But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here."

Glancing over at Tony, he finds him watching him. Both Bucky and Tony still don't exactly see eye to eye very well, and basically the whole team knows it. But Tony has good reason to not like Bucky all that much, from him having killed his parents, though he wasn't in control of his own mind.

Tony knows that it wasn't really Bucky's fault that his parents are dead, but there's still resentment towards him there because they had died by Bucky's hand. Though, Tony _does_ regret trying to kill him after finding out the truth of his parents death. He saw the man who had killed his parents standing there, and in a fit if rage, tried to kill him, even though he knew it wasn't really Bucky's fault.

Steve still hasn't quite forgiven Tony for trying to kill Bucky. Bucky on the other hand, forgave him months ago, knowing that Tony had every right be mad at him. He saw him kill his parents, he had every right to be mad in that moment.

But now, even though Bucky and Tony don't really like each other still, they've been trying to get on with each other. It's kind of working, but they still prefer to keep away from one another while in the tower. Steve is trying to get his friendship back with Tony, but what friendship they had, is broken and they're still trying to pick up the pieces. But their friendship will never be as it once was.

"Come on, let's just decorate this tree." Bucky says, turning back to Steve. "Let's not think about what happened in the past. We're meant to put that behind us, aren't we?" He asks.

Steve sighs, nodding his head. They're all trying to out what happened behind them, but nothing has truly been the same since the accords, and when the Avengers had split up. It was a mission to get them all back together, and get all their charges removed. It was especially hard to locate Natasha.

"You're right." He nods, before looking around at the others still standing in the room. "Let's just get to decorating this tree."

And so, they all get to working together to decorate the tree, and to decorate the living room with a bunch of Christmas decorations, seeing as they have way too much.

Bucky honestly doesn't understand why they need so much, and to cover the whole room as well as the tree. Once it's all done, it's probably going to look like a reindeer or Santa Claus has thrown up everywhere. He really doesn't see why it's necessary to put so much up. He even thinks that Tony is going to be putting some up on the outside the tower too. Actually, knowing Tony, that's exactly what's going to happen.

As Bucky pulls the Christmas lights out of on on the boxes, he groans in frustration as they're all tangled up. "Who ever was the last one to put these lights away, fuck you." He says to no one in particular, as he's got no idea who was the last one to pack the Christmas lights away. He has a feeling it might've been Thor though, or maybe Clint. It was probably Clint.

Somehow, he's really not sure, but in amongst Bucky trying to untangle the Christmas lights, he ends up getting himself tangled up in them. He really, _really_ isn't sure how the fuck he managed to do that. But he really wants them untangled from himself right away, as it's almost reminding him of being connected to a bunch of wires and things that he doesn't even know what they are exactly back when Hydra had him.

"Steve!" He calls, as he's unable to free himself. _Jeez, how fucking strong are these Christmas lights?_ "I need help!" He says, trying his best not to panic.

It doesn't take long for Steve to make his way over to him, laughing at the sight of Bucky tangled up in the Christmas lights. But as soon as he sees Bucky's unimpressed look, and the emotion in his eyes bordering panic, he's quick to shut up. He's not exactly sure of everything that Hydra had put Bucky through, but he can bet that a lot of things they'd do to him would have him restrained down.

"What have you gotten yourself into, Buck?" Steve sighs, as he helps Bucky untangle the lights from him.

He doesn't want Bucky to start to panic, even though he's done well with not starting to panic. He knows Bucky suffers from PTSD a lot more than he does, so he wants to get him untangled as quick as possible.

Thankfully it doesn't take Steve too long to get him untangled, and when he does, Bucky sighs in relief, letting out the breath that he didn't even realize he was holding.

"Thank you, Steve." He says, taking the now untangled Christmas lights from him. "I can take it from here now."

"You sure you're good to put the lights up?" Steve asks, concern evident in his voice. "I mean, you were pretty close to panicking."

"But I didn't." Bucky points out. "Steve, I can put the lights up. I'm not a baby that needs to be coddled every five seconds." He says, standing up with the Christmas lights in one hand. "All I needed was your help to untangle myself from them. I'm fine, I promise."

Steve doesn't look too sure, but allows Bucky to put up the lights himself. It's best to not argue with him at times anyway, especially when he can be quite stubborn. Though, Bucky would argue and say that Steve is way more stubborn that he is most of the time. Just take how many times Steve had applied to join the army as a prime example of his stubbornness.

But Bucky _is_ right that he's not a baby that needs to be coddled every five seconds. There's just times where his PTSD gets pretty bad, but he's mostly got it under control. Keyword, _'mostly'._ He still has nightmares during the night, some worse than others. But Steve is always there to help him through them, just as Bucky is there to help him through his own nightmares.

So Steve just stands back and keeps an eye on Bucky as he hangs the lights up around the room. He knows that Bucky doesn't really like him keeping an eye on him, but Steve just can't help it. He just wants to make sure that he's safe, and that what's left of Hydra aren't going to get their hands on him.

Bucky tries to ignore Steve's eyes on him as he puts the lights up around the room. He knows he's just looking out for him, and he appreciates that, but it's almost as if Steve thinks that if he does anything wrong, or is away from him for too long, that he's going to disappear or Hydra will come and take him again.

Though, Bucky _does_ understand why Steve would think that. He had spent first three years out of the ice thinking that he had died falling off the train in 1944, to discovering that he's alive in 2014 on that day seventy years after he was presumed dead. That was only three years ago now, and Bucky _knows_ Steve would do anything to keep him here. Even if Bucky doesn't feel as if he deserves to be here.

As soon as Bucky has finished putting the Christmas lights around the room, he stands back to admire his work. It doesn't look too bad, though it's not exactly perfect. Though, Peter's fancy little spider web snowflakes that he made and put up around the room definitely look a lot nicer. Bucky almost feels jealous of Peter for having a cool power. A weird one, but a pretty cool one too.

All Bucky has, is superhuman strength and a metal arm. Though, the arm he has now isn't the one that Hydra had made him, thanks to Tony for blasting it off. Though really, Bucky can't be too mad at Tony for blasting that arm off, as that one, seeing as Hydra made it, would sometimes shock him, so he can't say he misses that arm. His new arm however, is so much better, and doesn't give him any grief. Well, except for in very cold days where it sometimes ices up and there's a thin layer of frost covering it on very cold mornings. It's probably got to do with his body temperature along with the cold weather though.

But the design for the new one, he likes it a lot more than the old one. The people of Wakanda had made it with vibranium, and it's more of a darker silver, almost black depending on how you look at it, and there's some sort of gold color through it, which Bucky has to admit that he really likes. Though, the red star is missing from the shoulder, but he could care less about that. That star was from the Russian soviets that had found him, and he's glad to be rid of it.

Finally, they've all finished decorating the tree and hung up decorations around the room, and Bucky heads straight for the couch with Steve trailing along behind him. Bucky isn't sure if he really enjoyed all of that, and he's definitely not impressed with all the tinsel that's now stuck in his hair, which he's too lazy to get out just yet.

"Honestly." Bucky starts, looking round the room at all the Christmas decorations hung up around the room. "It _really_ looks like Santa Claus or his reindeers threw up in here." He says, not really a fan of all the Christmas decorations, or Christmas in general. "It's disgusting."

All the others do, is laugh at Bucky's statement. Not that he really cares anyway. To him it _really_ looks like Santa or his reindeer had thrown up everywhere, and he's not exactly a fan of it. He's not too sure why, maybe because he feels as though he doesn't deserve to have a Christmas, or because he can't spend it with his family.

Well, he _could_ spend it with his family, but he's honestly too ashamed to even see any of his surviving family. He's even too ashamed to visit his parents graves. Plus, he's practically a stranger to his family now, and he doesn't even know which of his siblings are still alive, and he's not entirely sure if his siblings kids want anything to do with him. His surviving family must know that he's still alive now. Everyone knows he is, and what he had become. But none of them have tried to see him at all, so he takes that as though they don't want anything to do with him.

"You okay, Bucky?" Steve asks, looking over at Bucky and his sudden mood drop.

Bucky sighs, shaking his head. "Just thinking about my family." He says. "About my mom. My dad. My sisters." He looks over at Steve. "I really miss them, Stevie."

Steve nods, pulling Bucky closer to him, and holding him close. "I know you do, Buck." He says.

Steve knows that Bucky misses his family. Steve misses them too along with his mother. But his mother is long dead, and so are Bucky's parents. But there may just be the chance that his sisters are still living...


	6. "I ain't getting my picture taken with Santa, Rogers"

"Do I _have_ to go with you?" Bucky asks, pausing his movie to look up at Steve. "Cause I _really_ don't want to have to go out into the snow."

Steve had just came into their small-ish living room on their floor, telling Bucky that the two of them need to go out Christmas shopping. But, Bucky isn't too keen to do so. Instead, he just wants to stay at home stretched out on the couch under a pile of blankets watching a movie.

"Yes." Steve nods. "You do. We need to go out and get gifts for the others." He says. "I don't want to leave it till the last minute. I've done that before, and you have no idea how packed the shops are on Christmas Eve."

Bucky groans in frustration. "Can't we just get everything online?" He asks.

He really doesn't want to go out, a doesn't see why they can't just get everything online. It's a lot easier, and saves them leaving the tower and all. Bucky has already bought Steve's gift online, with help from Sam of course, as he doesn't want a repeat of buying way too many of one thing.

All he has to do now, is wait for Steve's gift to arrive. He's not sure when exactly that'll be though. Hopefully soon. Though, he'll have to wrap it then hide it somewhere where Steve won't be able to find it.

He still does need to get gifts for the others though. But he was hoping that he and Steve could get them gifts from the both of them, and get them all online. Mainly because he doesn't want to leave the tower, and because he's found that the internet is very helpful, and the fact that you can buy stuff online and it gets delivered straight to you? That's honestly something that amazes Bucky to no end.

If it weren't for certain things, Bucky would say that he absolutely loves the future. But, he still misses the days back when he and Steve were growing up. Though, he can't say that he misses when Steve was very sick and near death. He also can't say that he completely misses all the shit that Steve got up to...

"We could. But I want to go out to the store and get everything instead." Steve says.

"Even my gift?" Bucky asks.

Steve shakes his head. "No. I've already got your gift." He says. "And no, I'm not giving you any hints on what it is." He adds, before Bucky even got the chance to ask.

The fact that Steve even thought for a second that Bucky would want a hint on what his gift is... He's absolutely right. Bucky was hoping for a hint of what it could possibly be. He doesn't really like surprises after all, and he'd much rather Steve tell him straight up what it is that he had gotten him. Though he _does_ hope it is one of the things that he's been dropping hints to Steve that he really wants.

He knows it won't be a cat or a dog though. As much as he would've liked one of those, he knows that it probably won't be the safest to get one. Though a dog that's trained to help with trauma or PTSD or whatever would be nice, and Bucky feels as though a dog trained in that area might be a good thing for him. He thinks there's dogs that are like that anyway, he kind of remembers reading something about that online. Maybe once he and Steve retire from this whole world saving with the Avengers they can just adopt a bunch of cats and dogs.

"Not gonna lie, I would've liked a little hint on whatever the hell it is you got me, Stevie." He says. "So for that, I'm not giving you any hints on what I've gotten for you."

Steve laughs a little at that. "I don't want to know until Christmas, Buck." He assures him. "Now, just get up off the couch, and we can go out to the mall and buy gifts for the others."

"But I don't want to go, Steve!" Bucky whines. "I don't even know what the fuck the others even like, as I barely even interact with them." He says. "All I really do, is just sit up here on our floor, and read or watch a bunch of movies and TV shows."

"Come on, Bucky." Steve sighs,walking over to the couch to stare down at him. "I promise it won't be so bad." He says. "And I promise you we won't be out for very long."

Bucky narrows his eyes up at him. He knows fully well that the two of them _will_ be out for long, especially with how many gifts they'll be having to buy. And Bucky doesn't like the sound of that. Well, actually, it's more of the fact that he doesn't want to be out in the snow. Then there's the fact that people still stare at him, and are afraid of him...

"Steve!" Bucky whines, as Steve starts to pull him up off the couch. "I don't wanna go!" He complains. "Just go without me."

Steve shakes his head. "Nope. You're coming with me." He says. "You can finish watching whatever that movie is once we get back." He promises. "Now go get changed out of your pyjamas so we can get going."

Grumbling in frustration, Bucky stalks off to his and Steve's shared bedroom to get changed into something warm and appropriate for going outside in. Though a hoodie and sweatpants probably aren't _that_ appropriate. But he doesn't give a shit.

He also decides on wearing his Harry Potter Hufflepuff house beanie and scarf. Wanda had made him read all seven Harry Potter books, and then all eight movies. Then she had made him take the house quiz on that Pottermore website. It's safe to say that no one was expecting him to get sorted into Hufflepuff. Even Bucky wasn't expecting that, he honestly thought that he'd get sorted into Slytherin, or at least Gryffindor like Steve. But instead he got Hufflepuff, with his patronus thing being a cat.

Once he's all set and ready to go he walks back out into the living room to find Steve sitting on the couch waiting for him, so he makes his way over to his side.

"I'm ready to go." Bucky sighs.

Steve looks im up and down, before nodding. "Alright. Well, get some shoes on then." He says, standing up and heading over to the door.

Bucky follows along behind him after he's got his shows on, and the two of them make their way all the way down to the garage on the very bottom floor of the tower. But, of course, Bucky trails on behind Steve a little, still not very happy that he has to leave the tower today when he'd much rather stay indoors on their floor and either read, watch TV shows, or watch a movie.

"If I freeze to death out here today, then it's your fault, Steve." Bucky says, as soon as they get into their car. Well, it's not exactly their car, it's more like one of Tony's cars that he lets them use.

Though, if Tony was to discover what both Steve and Bucky have done in the backseat a couple of times - okay, it was more than a couple times - he'd probably just let them have the car. Bucky won't lie though, that's exactly the plan, seeing as he really likes this car. He's just gotta figure out some way Tony can catch him getting fucked by Steve in the backseat of the car, without getting Steve in on his plan of course. Even though Steve is a little shit, he doesn't think he'd be in on the plan.

"You're not going to freeze to death, Bucky." Steve assures him, turning on the heater in the car just as he's driving out of the garage. "We've both already escaped that way of death."

Bucky doesn't respond to that, and just sits back in the passenger's seat, hoping like hell that they won't be out for too long. Though, he knows fully well that they'll be out for some time, he's just not sure for how long they'll be out.

"Please promise me that we won't be out for too long, Steve." Bucky says, shoving his gloves hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Cause I'd _really_ like to get home as soon as possible to finish watching that Johnny Depp movie."

"Well, I promise we won't be out for too long, Buck." Steve says, looking over at him, before turning his attention back to the road. "What movie with Johnny Depp is it anyway?"

"The Ninth Gate." Bucky says. "Depp's character is some sort of book dealer or whatever. Like, he searches for books for clients or something. And in the movie, he's searching for a book supposedly written by Satan himself." He explains. "It's really good so far. And honestly, Johnny Depp is fucking hot. I'd let him fuck me."

Steve turns to look at him, one eyebrow raised. "You'd let Johnny Depp have sex with you?" He asks, before shrugging, turning his attention back to the road. "Well, I can't say I blame you." He says. "He _is_ quite attractive for being in his fifties."

"Steve, I'm 100 years old, and you're 99 years old." Bucky says. "I think that statement is a bit redundant when it comes to the both of us."

"Well, we're not exactly what you'd call normal, Buck." Steve points out.

"Touché." Bucky nods, agreeing with Steve on the fact that the two of them aren't exactly normal, and haven't been for years.

Finally, they arrive at the mall, and Bucky honestly just wants to go straight back home as soon as he steps foot out of the car. Especially with all the eyes turning towards him, and the parents that are pushing their children away from his direction.

"Steve, can't I just wait in the car?" He asks, turning to Steve who had just exited the car and was locking up.

"No, Bucky." Steve shakes his head, walking around to his side. "I promise you that everything will be fine. We'll be in and then out as soon as possible, I promise." He assures him. "Just, try to ignore the stares people give you. Just remember that they don't know who you really are. All they know about you, is what the media has said about you."

Bucky frowns looking down at the ground. Steve's right. The public don't know who he really is, just what the media has portrayed him as. A murderer, and an enemy to the state amongst other things. Really, he's a prisoner of war, as well as a war hero. He fought alongside fucking Captain America, and was the only Howling Commando who had gave his life in service of his country.

But does he so much as get any bit of praise for that? Nope. not any more. Not since it was revealed that he was the Winter Soldier.

"Hey, come here." Steve says, pulling Bucky in close to him and hugging him tightly. "It's okay." He says, rubbing a hand round Bucky's back as he almost melts into his hold. "I've got you, you're okay, Bucky."

"I'm fine, Steve." Bucky sighs after a while, shifting around in Steve's hold slightly to look at him. "Let's just get on with this shopping so we can get home quicker."

Steve nods, before the two of them are reluctantly pulling out of each others hold, as ty walk into the mall. But it doesn't take too long for Bucky to take Steve's hand in his, just needing some sort of contact with Steve right now.

All throughout the mall, there's shoppers that stare at the both of them, but Bucky does his best to ignore them. Though, a couple of teenage girls had came up to them, telling Bucky that they like his Hufflepuff scarf and beanie. That gesture causes Bucky to smile. He's never had a stranger come up to him like that before, so that definitely made him feel better. Though, it doesn't stop other shoppers from keeping away from him and Steve.

"Hey, Buck." Steve starts, about halfway through their shopping trip. "Why don't you go get your picture taken with Santa?" He asks, indicating to the area up ahead where there seemed to be people getting their picture taken with Santa.

Though, of course it's just a fake Santa, and not the real thing, seeing as he doesn't exist. But, if he's being honest, Steve wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Santa _is_ real with all the shit that he's seen and experienced since coming out of the ice about six years ago now.

Bucky raises an eyebrow at that. Steve _really_ thinks that he should get his photo taken with Santa? He's got to be joking...

"I'm not getting my photo taken with Santa, Rogers." He laughs, shaking his head. "Not to mention that's not even real Santa." He points out, before pulling Steve along to the next store. "Now come on. We've got to finish shopping after all."

With that, the two of them are off, heading in the direction of another store to buy more gifts for the others. And, maybe go into the book store so Bucky can try and talk Steve into buying him a new book...


	7. It's Clint Barton's Fault Bucky Hates Christmas Music

Loud Christmas music is certainly not the way that Bucky was wanting to be awoken at six in the morning. Who the fuck is even up at six anyway? Especially in this weather. It's way too cold to be up at six in the morning.

Looking over at Steve who's still fast asleep next to him, he groans in frustration, before he's getting out of bed to find the source of the loud and horrible Christmas music.

He decides to take the stairs instead of the elevator to find the source of the loud music. Partly because he doesn't really trust going in one by himself because of all the new high tech in them. He's not even sure how Steve manages to handle it all. Then again, Steve _did_ have more time to get used to all of this before him.

The only things that Bucky has managed to get used to so far, is the fridge, the microwave (barely), the TV (again, barely) and Netflix (once again, barely). He feels ashamed about that, but within time, he's sure to have gotten used to almost every new piece of technology in this day and age. Because a lot of new things these days, Bucky has found to be very useful, even if he still needs help to work them...

As he walks towards the main living room that they all share a couple floors below his and Steve's floor, Bucky notices the music begins to grow louder, and he's just about ready to destroy whatever device is playing that horrible music. He wouldn't go as far as hurting whoever is playing the music though. Well, just _maybe_ if it's Sam who's playing it. He wouldn't put it past the bird to play that music just to annoy the hell out of him. Though, he has a feeling that it's probably Clint.

If it's Natasha playing the music though, he'll most definitely be high tailing it out of the room. He doesn't want to get on Natasha's bad side. But he rather doubts it would be Natasha, as he'd think she'd play creepy as fuck Russian nursery rhymes, or anything creepy in general.

Opening the doors into the main living room of the tower, he spots Clint sitting on the couch with a mug of coffee while Christmas music is playing loudly from the speakers. He had a very strong feeling that it would be Clint that's playing the music, so seeing Clint sitting there on the couch was no surprise to him.

Slowly, he walks into the room, and around the back of the couch behind Clint. Once he gives Clint a talking to, he may have to refrain from burning every Christmas themed thing in here, along with the speakers playing that dreadful music.

Leaning over the side of the couch, Bucky stares down at Clint, clearing his throat to get his attention. Though, it doesn't really do any good. Trying again louder this time, Clint spins around on the couch in surprise, before yelling in fright and falling off.

"Jeez, Barnes." Clint huffs, clutching at his chest, grabbing the remote to the speakers off the table and turning the music off. "What are you trying to do, fucking scare me to death?"

Bucky shrugs. "Maybe." He says, coming round to the front of the couch and sitting down right in front of Clint. "Now, what I came down here for, is to tell you to turn that shit down, or not play it at all." He says, staring down at Clint. "It's six in the morning, I'm very cold, and I'm trying to fucking sleep, and I _really_ don't want to be woken up to loud as fuck Christmas music, you hear me?"

Clint nods quickly, jumping up off the floor, but knocking his mug of coffee off the table as he does so. "Ah, shit." He mutters, staring down at his spilt coffee on the carpet floor. "My coffee." He pouts, before looking up at Bucky. "Look what you made me do, man."

"Not my fault." Bucky shrugs, getting up off the couch, and heading over towards the kitchen area. "Now, don't fucking play that Christmas music again, and especially at that volume." He looks over his shoulder at Clint, to see him looking down at his spilt coffee once more.

Shaking his head at that. Clint may be a great guy, but he sure is an idiot and drinks way too much coffee for one person. Though, Bucky could honestly compete with Clint in the amount of coffee he has every day, so really he can't say much when it comes to how much coffee Clint drinks every day. Then again, he _is_ an enhanced human, while Clint is just a normal human - with amazing abilities when it comes to shooting a bow and arrow - so coffee doesn't really do much to him as it would with Clint. Unless Clint has some form of enhancement that he isn't even aware of...

As he walks into the kitchen, he walks straight over to the fridge. He might as well get something to eat while he's in here, even though there is a fridge full of food on his and Steve's floor. Once he's back on his and Steve's floor he'll probably get more food, and then try and get some more sleep. If not, he'll probably just have a shower, and then watch some Netflix like he does almost everyday.

Staring into the fridge, he frowns as nothing inside looks appealing to him right now. Maybe he should just get something from his and Steve's floor, as their fridge is always full of food that the both of them have come to love in this day and age. Bucky certainly does love the food selections these days. There's so much variety to choose from. Probably too much actually, as when he goes out to the grocery store with Steve or sometimes Sam, he doesn't know what to get half the time, and ends up getting multiple pack of the same thing all in different flavors.

Eventually, he settles on a piece of chocolate cake that he can't really remember what it was from. Though, there was some sort of dinner thing last week that the others had in the tower than neither he or Steve ended up going to - as he didn't really feel up to it and Steve opted for staying on their floor with him - so maybe that's what it was from. It looked like it would've been a large cake too, and half of it already seems to have been eaten.

"See you've found the cake then." Clint comments, walking into the kitchen to presumably get more coffee.

Bucky just nods, finishing up his slice of chocolate cake. "I still can't get over how good the food these days tastes." He says. "It makes the food back in my day taste like, well, shit."

Clint nods. "Well, welcome to the future, old man." He says, pouring himself another mug of coffee. "Where the food is better, and all this fancy new tech is probably too much to handle for your old ass."

"Some of it's not too bad." Bucky shrugs, finishing up his cake, and putting the dishes in the sink. "Some of this new technology I've mastered how to use it."

"Yes, but one you haven't yet mastered, is the dishwasher." Clint comments, as he watches Bucky place his dirty plate and spoon into the sink instead of the dishwasher.

Looking down at the dishwasher next to him, Bucky shrugs. "I don't trust it." He says. "And, I don't really like the noise that it makes. It's one of the reasons Steve and I wash everything by hand up on our floor. Well, and because it's what we're used to."

Clint nods, laughing a little. "You both really are a pair of old grandpas." He says.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bucky says, shaking his head, before beginning to walk off. "Now, no more loud Christmas music." He says, before walking off. "And stay out of the vents!" He calls over his shoulder. "Or else I'll break all of your bows and arrows!"

Bucky only just caught what Clint had called back. Something about not touching his bow and arrows. But if he doesn't want him to touch them, then he's got to not play any more of that god awful Christmas music, especially not at the volume he had it up at before.

He's also got to stay out of the air vents too. He knows that's one of the places that Clint likes to hide away in - whether it be when he just wants alone time, or he's hiding from Natasha - but the amount of time that he's given him a fright while he's crawling around in there... It's just a good thing that the amount of times that Bucky has shot a gun up at the vents because of Clint, that none of the bullets have hit Clint. Well, apart from that one time where a bullet _did_ get him in the thigh, but that's only happened once... or twice....

As soon as he gets back onto his and Steve's floor, he heads straight to the bedroom, to find Steve just having woken up.

"Hey, Buck." Steve yawns, getting up and out of bed. "You're up early. Usually you're not up till, eleven."

Bucky shrugs, heading straight to the bed and getting in under the covers. "I was awoken by Clint playing fucking Christmas music." He says, sitting up to look at Steve. "You know, I had no idea how much I hated Christmas music until I was awoken by it."

Steve nods, laughing a little as he shakes his head. "And I suppose you blame it solely on Clint, then?" He asks.

"Yep." Bucky nods. "I most definitely do blame it on Clint." He says. "What are you doing up right now anyway, Steve?" He asks. "Come back to bed." He stretches out his arms for Steve, but frowns in disappointment when Steve shakes his head.

"I gotta go out for my morning run." He says.

"What, in this fucking weather?" Bucky questions. "Steve, just please come back to bed." He pleads. "We could do something else instead of sleeping?" He suggests.

Steve shakes his head, throwing a hoodie on over his shirt. "Bucky, as appealing as that may sound, I'm not really in the mood for sex right now." He says. "Maybe later. I promise."

Bucky frowns, but nods his head. "Okay." He sighs. "But if you have a shower, don't you dare shave your beard."

"Have you developed a sexual kink for getting beard burn on the inside of your thighs or something?" Steve asks, raising an eyebrow at him.

As his cheeks heat up at that, Bucky throws the blankets over his head. "Shut up, ya fucking punk." He mumbles, voice muffled from the blankets.

"I don't know, Buck." Steve starts, scratching at his beard that he's neglected to shave for awhile. "I was thinking about going back to being all clean shaven." He teases.

Honestly though, now that Steve can actually grow a beard, he's started to not shave very often. Especially since he's discovered that Bucky quite likes him with a beard. Bucky had joked about it saying that Steve was now finally a real man, amongst him saying certain, _other_ things. One of which ended up with Steve pushing him straight down onto the bed, before eating him out then fucking him into the mattress. When, they may or may not have dented the wall from the headboard of the bed hitting it a bit too hard....

Walking over to Bucky's side of the bed, Steve pulls the covers down from his head, and places a kiss on Bucky's cheek. "I won't shave the beard, Buck." He says, before leaning in closer to him. "I know what it does to you." He whispers in his ear, before gently biting on the lobe.

That sends a shiver up Bucky's spine. Steve has always known how to turn Bucky on, ever since the 30s. Even in ways that Bucky himself had forgotten about.

"S-Steve!" He whines, glaring up at Steve who moves away from his side. "You're just gonna leave me like this while you go out for your run now, aren't you?" He asks, folding his arms across his chest, causing the blankets to shift off him.

"Yep." Steve nods, walking over to his drawers and pulling out some sweatpants.

"You're a jerk you know that, Rogers?" Bucky says, shifting around on the bed, trying to ignore his arousal.

"Mhmm." Steve hums in reply. "I'll see you when I get back!" He calls over his shoulder as he exits the room after getting changed into the sweatpants.

Groaning in frustration, Bucky falls back onto the bed. "Fuck you, Steve!" He shouts, knowing that Steve can probably still hear him.

But seriously, fuck him. Leaving him here all hot and bothered like this. Now Bucky isn't even sure if he'll be able to get any sleep at all, and it's all Steve's fault.

And it's also Clint's fault for waking him up in the first place by playing shitty Christmas music up way too loud....


	8. Steve's Gift To Bucky

"Come on, Bucky. Get up!" Steve says, shaking Bucky's shoulder to try and get him to wake up.

Though, Steve probably should've known that that's not the best way to wake Bucky up, as Bucky's metal fist connects with his stomach, sending him flying across the room and slamming his back against the wall.

"Ow." He groans, getting up off the floor slowly, leaning up against the wall, which now has a dent in it. They really have almost destroyed this whole room.... Which, Tony doesn't know about, and neither does he need to know about...

"Steve." Bucky grumbles, sitting up in bed slowly to find Steve standing up against the wall, clutching his stomach. "What the fuck are you doing all the way over there?" He asks.

"Tried to wake you up." Steve says, walking back over to Bucky's side. "And, you kinda punched me all the way to the other side of the room."

Bucky frowns at that, looking away from Steve. "I'm sorry." He says, barely above a whisper.

He absolutely hates it when he hurts Steve in any way. It's usually by accident, but he still hates it. Sometimes he just doesn't know his own strength. Curse the bastardized serum running through his veins.

"It's okay, Buck." Steve assures him. "I know you didn't mean to do it." He says. "Now, get up and get dressed. We've got somewhere to be today."

Groaning, Bucky falls back onto the bed, not wanting to go out anywhere. Steve knows fully well that he doesn't want to go out anywhere, but get he plans something out so they have to go out.

"Steve." He sighs. "I am not leaving this bed." He states, refusing to get up. "Wherever we're supposed to be today, it can go fuck itself, cause I ain't going anywhere."

"Come on, Bucky." Steve sighs, pulling him up off the bed. "I've planned this whole thing out for you, so you gotta get up!" He says.

Bucky just pulls his arms free of Steve's hold, and throws the blankets over his head to show his protest in not wanting to leave the bed for anything today. He doesn't think that there's anything that would make him get up. And whatever Steve has planned, probably isn't worth getting up anyway. Well, he expects it isn't anyway.

"Bucky, what I've got planned for you is worth getting out of bed." Steve sighs, folding his arms across his chest. "So please get up. I really don't want to have to cancel because you couldn't get out of bed."

"Does it involve food?" Bucky asks, voice muffled by the blankets. "Because if it doesn't involve food, then I'm definitely not leaving this bed." He states. "Plus, my ass still hurts from last night. No thanks to you, Rogers."

"If I do recall, you weren't complaining about that last night." Steve says. "And, there may be food where we're going." He shrugs. "I'm not sure exactly what's going to happen there, but we're going. You have no idea how difficult it was for me to arrange this."

Throwing the blanket down from his face, Bucky sighs, guessing that if Steve put all this effort into it, then he might as well get up and go to whatever the hell it is. Even if he really doesn't want to.

"Can you at least give me a hint to whatever it is?" He asks, getting out of bed and making his way over to his drawers.

"Nope. It's a surprise." Steve says. "Now get dressed. We leave in half an hour."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bucky sighs, heading off into the bathroom to take a shower.

Half an hour later, and the two of them are getting into the car, and driving off to whatever it is that Steve's got planned for the day.

Bucky sure hopes that whatever it is, is worth leaving the tower for. Maybe since Steve said that it was quite difficult to arrange it, it may just be worth it. But, really all Bucky can do, is hope. There could be the chance that what Steve feels is worth it, isn't worth it to Bucky.

They may have known each other since they were young, but there's still things that they both don't exactly agree on. Which, is probably the case with a lot of relationships and friendships.

Sitting back in the passengers seat, Bucky stares out the window, scowling at all the snow outside and the snow that is falling. Snow is disgusting and cold, and he hates it. Maybe he should've talked with T'Challa about putting him in cryo for the duration of winter. Though, then that would probably upset Steve.

He had heard from Sam that Steve had taken it a bit rough when he had gone back under, and had spent most of his days inside his chamber. Bucky doesn't want to have to put Steve through that again.

Hell, he didn't even want to put him through that in the first place. But it was the only way, and the best thing for everybody. Whatever Hydra had put inside his head was all still there, and he didn't want to risk staying out of cryo and hurting somebody if his trigger words were to be spoken.

As he notices Steve slowing down the car, Bucky narrows his eyes in confusion as he sees the building Steve is driving towards. A rest home? Why the fuck would they be going to a fucking rest home?

"Steve, what?" He starts, turning to look at Steve in confusion. "A rest home? You're taking me to a rest home?" He asks. "Are you going to give me up to a fucking rest home?"

"Bucky, I don't think a rest home would let you live there, no matter how much money I give them." Steve laughs. "Besides, neither of us actually look like we're senior citizens." He says. "We're here to visit someone."

That just makes Bucky even more confused. Who the hell is there for them to even visit in a rest home? Surely all of the Howling Commandos are dead? Right?

"Steve, who the hell do we have to visit in a rest home?" He asks. "Aren't all the Howlies, well, dead?" He questions. "Is Peggy Carter still alive or something?"

Bucky notices Steve stiffen as he mentions Peggy. None of them have really mentioned Peggy to one another, and Steve had never told Bucky that she had died.

"Steve?" Bucky asks. "Is there something you haven't told me?"

Steve sighs, shaking his head. "We're not visiting Peggy, Buck." He says. "Peggy died last year. Not long before I found you again."

Bucky nods, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." He says, before he looks back up at Steve as something crosses his mind. "Wait, define _how_ long before?"

Steve looks over at him. "Well, her funeral was not very long before you were framed for that, situation that killed T'Challa's father." He says.

"Dude..." Bucky starts. "So you went and kissed Peggy's niece not long after her funeral?" He asks. "Sam told me Peggy was Sharon's aunt or something." He adds, before Steve could ask him how he knew Sharon was Peggy's niece. "What the fuck, man?"

Steve shrugs. "I don't know." He says. "I guess it was a bit stupid of me, wasn't it?"

Bucky nods. "Oh, very." He says. "Especially with me sitting in that shitty car watching." He adds. "Damn Carters trying to steal you off me." He grumbles.

"Sorry, Buck." Steve apologizes. "But, technically we weren't really together then."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Rogers?" Bucky asks, taken aback by Steve's words. "We never exactly broke up in the first place, so what you talking about us not being together then?"

"Keyword being ' _technically_ ', Buck." Steve says. "Now come on." He says, changing the topic, as he gets ready to exit the car. "They should be waiting for us."

Bucky narrows his eyes at him. He still hasn't given him any clue at all to who they're even visiting. It's not the Howlies, and it's certainly not Peggy. So who the hell could it be? Unless....

"Steve." He starts, not wanting to step foot out of the car in case whoever they're here to visit is who he thinks it is. "Please don't make me do this." He begs.

Steve stops, sighing, before turning to him. "Bucky, she wants to see you." He says. "And you have no idea how difficult it was to organize this. The workers there wouldn't allow it to begin with, and it took so much convincing to let them allow it."

Bucky looks away. That pretty much confirms that they're here to visit one of his younger sisters. But, he's terrified to do so. He's afraid of what she'll think of him now, what they all thought when it was revealed that he is the Winter Soldier. What they thought back in the 40s when he supposedly died.

"Which of my sisters are we visiting?" He asks, not that it would make much difference in how scared he is of seeing her again. Though, he's asking anyway. But as bad as it may sound, he barely remembers the names of his younger sisters.

"I only managed to track down Rebecca." Steve says. "And she really wants to see you, Bucky."

Looking over towards the rest home nervously, Bucky sighs, shaking his head. This may be the last time he can visit her. Even though he's terrified of how the meeting will go down, he would hate to miss the opportunity to see her again, and then she passes away.

"Do you promise to have my back if anything starts to go wrong?" He asks, turning back to Steve.

Steve nods, knowing that there may be the chance that Bucky will break down inside as soon as he sees Rebecca. "I won't leave your side." He promises. "And I know you'll be fine. I wouldn't have organized this if I didn't think you'd be able to handle this."

Bucky nods, taking a deep breath, and exiting the car slowly. Steve follows suit more quicker, and after locking up the car, walks straight round to Bucky's side, taking his hand in his as they walk up to the front doors of the rest home.

Heads turn their way as they walk over to the front desk, and Bucky shifts closer to Steve's side, holding onto his hand tighter. Steve gives his hand a reassuring squeeze, and places a kiss onto his cheek. It didn't make Bucky feel all that much better, but it did help a little, and Bucky knows that Steve will be right by his side through all of this.

"Hi. We're her to see Rebecca Barnes." Steve says, as soon as he and Bucky have gotten to the receptionist.

The lady nods. "And your names are?" She asks, doing a double take of the two men standing on the other side of the desk in front of her.

"Steve Rogers, and James Barnes." Steve says. Bucky stays silent, letting Steve do the talking.

The lady nods. "Alright." She starts. "Just one moment, please. I'll just get someone to let Ms Barnes know that you've arrived."

Not long after, while Steve and Bucky are just standing around waiting, another worker makes their way over to them, telling them that Rebecca is ready to see them both.

The fact that Bucky is finally going to see one of his younger sisters again after so long, terrifies him. The Winter Soldier definitely isn't exactly as tough as people would think he is. And all it takes to terrify him, is him being reunited with any of his family that is still alive.

"It's okay, Buck." Steve assures him, squeezing his hand in reassurance. "I'll be right by your side. I'm not going to leave."

"I know you aren't." Bucky looks up at him. "It's just been so long since I've seen her, that I'm afraid of what she may think of me with all that's happened to me since the war."

Steve nods. "You're her big brother though, Bucky. I'm sure she'll still love you." He says, before they both stop behind the worker, who had stopped at one of the rooms down the hall.

"She's in here." She says. "And she's been expecting you both."

"Thank you." Steve nods, before the worker is walking off.

Bucky hangs back behind Steve a little, as Steve knocks on the door. He has no idea what he's expecting to become of this, and he definitely isn't ready to see his sister again. But Steve went through all this trouble to organize this, and he appreciates that. It just doesn't take away how afraid he is.

"Steve." Bucky lets out a shaky breath, as Steve knocks on the door, before opening it slowly.

He _really_ isn't ready to do this, but it's too late now. And, knowing that Rebecca is wanting to see him, he doesn't want to upset her by not showing up. Though, he's sure she'd understand why if he were to not turn up.

"Hello?" Steve calls, as he walks into the room slowly, turning to look at Bucky to check if he hasn't ran off. "Rebecca? It's Steve Rogers." He says, turning back to look into the room.

Bucky practically feels like his heart is going to beat right out of his chest. He's so afraid of seeing her, and he feels like making a run for it. But he can't do that. He has to force himself not to run, even if he wants to.

Sticking close to Steve, Bucky follows him into the room, and as he sees an elderly woman sitting at a small dining table, Bucky has to try and hold back his tears. The woman, even though much much older than he had last saw her, is undeniably Rebecca. His little sister, or at least one of them anyway. He's almost afraid to ask about the others in case he hears something he doesn't want to hear.

As Rebecca's eyes meet his, Bucky stops, not knowing what the hell to do, or what he's feeling right now. He was never expecting to see any of his family again, but here he is with his sister Rebecca sitting right in front of him.

Steve moves out of the way so Bucky and Rebecca can see each other more. He gives a nod of encouragement to Bucky as he looks towards him, before Bucky's slowly making his way over to Rebecca.

"B-Becca?" Bucky chokes, falling to his knees next to her as she nods.

That's all it took for Bucky to break down in tears, hugging Rebecca tight, but not too tight to the point where he's hurting her. He wouldn't dare hurt his sister.

"Oh, James." Rebecca chokes, hugging Bucky back, running her fingers through his hair. "I've missed you so much."

Bucky doesn't say anything, just cries into her shoulder. Ever since he's began to remember his family again, he's missed them a lot, but has always been too afraid to seek them out because he's ashamed of what Hydra had made him do. Which has caused him to be afraid to show his face to his own family.

Steve stands back watching them with a smile on his face. He too had tears in his eyes watching Bucky be reunited with one of his younger sisters, Rebecca. He had tried to track down the other two, but he couldn't manage to get in touch with them. So either they want nothing to do with Bucky, or they've passed on.

"How did mom and dad take it when they got the news that I..." Bucky asks, not long after he and Rebecca had calmed down, and the three of them were now sitting at the small dining table with a cup of hot tea each.

Rebecca sighs. "Well. Mom took it much worse than dad." She starts. "From what I can remember, mom had shut herself away in her bedroom for months, and would cry herself to sleep." She explains. "Then when we heard of Steve's fate, it added onto the pain we were all feeling."

Bucky nods. "What about..." He trails off, not quite remembering the names of his other two sisters. He feels terrible about that, but he still can't remember quite a bit of stuff.

But Rebecca seems to know who he's referring to. "They took it pretty bad too." She says. "We all did." She sighs, looking down at the table.

"Wh-what about when you found out that I'm the Winter Soldier?" Bucky asks, fearing the answer to the question.

What they had thought when it was revealed that he's the Winter Soldier is what Bucky is most afraid about. Though one thing that he doesn't want to ask more than that, is how they're parents had died. That's the one thing that he's not too sure if he can handle or not.

Rebecca is quiet for awhile, before she shakes her head. "I thought it must've been a joke." She says. "You had died. And yet it's true that you're the Winter Soldier, and you're sitting here right now still alive." She leans closer to him a little, grabbing his hand - his metal hand - in her own hand. "But, I do not blame you for what you had done." She says. "It's not your fault. They had control over you, and forced you to do everything that you had done. It's not your fault, James. It's theirs."

Bucky feels more tears coming on at that, and Steve scoots his chair closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist to try and comfort him. He has no idea what Bucky is feeling right now. He doesn't have any surviving family left, so he has no idea how Bucky is feeling right now. But even though Steve _does_ feel as though Bucky's family is his own family, it's just not the same.

Through tear filled eyes, Bucky looks down at his hand in Rebecca's, and places his flesh hand over top of hers. He didn't have that much hope that Rebecca would've had a very positive thing to say about hi being revealed as the Winter Soldier. But he had definitely been mistaken, and he feels very relieved about that.

Looking over at Steve, Bucky nods his head at him, before leaning over to kiss him. "Steve." He starts, looking between his sister and Steve. "Thank you for this, Stevie." He says. " _Thank you..._ "


	9. Stark's Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

"Steve, what the fuck?" Bucky asks, as Steve throws a hideous Christmas themed sweater his way. "I'm definitely _not_ wearing that, and there's no way that you're going to get me to put it on."

"Bucky, it's for Tony's ugly Christmas sweater party." Steve says.

Bucky looks up at him from where he's seated on the couch. Only yesterday Tony had came up to tell the both of them about his little party that he's going to be throwing on the bottom floor of the tower. The theme of which being an ugly Christmas sweater theme. Which had caused Steve to go out to the store and buy a dozen Christmas sweaters for himself and Bucky to choose from for the party.

Except, Bucky _really_ doesn't want to go down there and attend the party. He'd rather stay up on his and Steve's floor watching movies or reading. Though, he probably should attend this stupid party, seeing as he's refused to go to every other party that Tony has hosted.

To be fair though, Bucky isn't too sure how well he'll be able to cope in a large crowd of people where almost everyone is getting drunk. Back in the day Bucky probably would have agreed to go to one, and be the one dragging Steve along with him not the other way around. But in this present day, he's just not really comfortable in socializing with a lot of people.

"Yes, the party that I don't really want to go to." Bucky points out, flipping through the channels on the TV.

"Bucky, you've refused to go to any of the other parties that Tony has hosted." Steve sighs, sitting down next to him on the couch.

"I know I have, Stevie." Bucky sighs, turning the TV off and turning to face him. "But, I just don't like being around large groups of people. You _know_ that." He says. "And besides, you and I can't get drunk."

Steve nods, knowing very well that Bucky doesn't like to be around large groups of people. Back in the day he was fine around large groups of people, but now everything's different and Bucky has become quite reserved and shy. To be fair, all that he's been through, it's not entirely surprising that he'd not like being around large groups of people.

"If it helps, there isn't really going to be much people down there." Steve says. "It's just something small."

"Steve. With Stark, small more than likely means a couple hundred people." Bucky states, before once again sighing. "But I suppose I might as well go, just to shut you up." He says.

Steve smiles at that, leaning over to give Bucky a kiss. "Great." He smiles. "Now go pick a Christmas sweater from the pile to wear."

He groans at that, not wanting to wear a fucking Christmas sweater. But knowing Tony, he'd probably kick him out of the party for not wearing one. Or he might just kick him out for the hell of it, seeing as they still aren't exactly friends per se. They're more like acquaintances really, not so much friends. Though, they don't straight up hate one another. Tony just has some resentment for Bucky murdering his parents, even though it technically wasn't his fault.

Tony and Steve aren't really friends anymore either. Though, Bucky isn't entirely sure if they even were friends to begin with, or at least very good friends. He's not too sure on their history together really, and he doesn't exactly want to pry into their history together.

Unless Tony had tried to steal Steve off him. But Bucky can't really blame them if they did have something together. Steve _did_ think he was dead for the three years prior to finding him alive, yet not quite the same. Though, Bucky is sure Tony was engaged to some lady, Pepper Potts who he himself has only met very briefly once or twice now. Maybe she'll be here at the party.

"Steve, these are all fucking hideous!" Bucky exclaims, looking through the pile of Christmas sweaters. "Who in their right mind would fucking wear one of these?"

"That's kinda the point with ugly Christmas sweaters, Buck." Steve says, grabbing a red and green sweater from the pile which had white silhouettes of what appeared to be two reindeers. Only, it wasn't a very appropriate sweater...

"Okay, Steve." Bucky sighs, staring at the sweater that Steve had just put on. "Where the fuck did you even buy all of these from?" He asks. "That one has what looks like two reindeers fucking each other, what the hell?"

Steve looks down at the sweater, shrugging. "I got a couple of them online. This one must have been one of the ones I bought online yesterday." He says. "And, I don't think that's what they're doing. I think it just looks like that."

All Bucky does, is roll his eyes, before looking through the pile once more. He really doesn't want to wear any of these. All of them look absolutely horrible, and he can't believe that he even has to wear one of them. He'd honestly rather just go naked instead of wearing one of these. But that may cause a few problems, and it may cause Steve to get a bit jealous, and he doesn't exactly want that...

Finally, he just settles on the only one that doesn't look too bad, and actually kind of looks like something that he'd choose to wear if he had no other choice. A dark green sweater with red sleeves and a pattern of red cat faces, with a light brown cat dressed in an elf's outfit.

Now even though it still looks rather hideous, it's probably the best that he's going to be able to get. And anyway, it looks so much better than Steve's one with the two reindeers getting at it. Though, he has to admit, that it is a pretty comfy sweater, and thank god Steve had bought them in the right size. Though, their clothes size is roughly the same now, and that may or may not be a good thing, seeing as they're always taking off with each other's clothes.

"I suppose this one isn't too bad." Bucky sighs, showing Steve the sweater after putting it on. "What do you think?"

Steve looks him up and down. "It looks good." He says. "Not exactly ugly, but it still looks good."

"You really think so?" Bucky asks.

Steve nods. "It suits you, Buck." He says. "Now, let's get ready to head on down to the bottom floor for this party."

As soon as they're ready to go, they're heading down to the lowest floor of the tower, and right when they're exiting the elevator, they're met with Tony. He looks the both of them up and down, before nodding.

"Glad to see you two oldies could make it down here." He says. "Nice sweater, Rogers." He adds, doing a double take of the sweater Steve is wearing.

"Is that Santa on the fucking toilet on your sweater, Stark?" Bucky asks, eyeing the blue Christmas sweater with what appeared to be Santa seated on the toilet.

"Yep." Tony says, looking quite proud of the sweater he managed to get.

Bucky sighs, shaking his head. "I need a drink." He mutters, wandering off to the bar area.

Steve and Tony look on after him, before Tony turns to Steve. "So, how is ol' Frosty?" He asks.

Steve sighs, shrugging. "He's fine." He says. "We went to visit his sister Rebecca a few days ago, and honestly, he seems a lot happier since then."

"Really?" Tony asks, looking over towards where Bucky is sitting by the bar with Sam. "Maybe I'm mistaken, Rogers, but he doesn't look like his mood has lifted all that much since then."

Steve shrugs. "Well, that's because you don't live on the same floor as him, or known him as long as I have. Somehow the both of us just know when something's wrong with the other." He says. "And his thank you gift to me once we got home was pretty intense." He adds, just to piss Tony off. "A new couch is probably needed. Do you know of any good department stores where we can get some sturdy couches from?"

"Now, Steve. That sounds like some sappy shit." Tony states. "And there will be none of that around me." He says. "And ew. I don't want to hear about yours and Barnes's sex life." He adds. "But try Target for furniture."

Steve just laughs, shaking his head. He wasn't exactly messing with Tony with he and Bucky having sex out on the couch some time after they got home from visiting Bucky's sister. He just kind of lied about needing to get a new couch. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie, their couch has been broken for awhile now, and the things that they've done on that couch, most certainly doesn't help.

"Now, you go off to your boyfriend, Steve." Tony says, pushing Steve along towards the bar where Bucky sat with Sam. "Just go before I get pictures in my head of stuff that I don't want to know about." He shudders. "God, I need alcohol."

Steve pats Tony on the back. "You go do that, man." He says, before wandering off to Bucky's side over by the bar sitting with Sam and Bruce who had just appeared to arrive.

Sitting down on the bar stool next to Bucky, Steve gets Bucky's attention by placing a kiss on his cheek. Which causes Bucky to turn his head towards Steve and kiss him properly.

"You good, Buck?" Steve asks, wrapping an arm round Bucky's shoulders.

"I'm fine, Stevie." Bucky assures him. "Just hanging out with Bruce and the bird."

"Just making sure, Buck." Steve says. "And it's good to see you out socializing for once."

Bucky shrugs. "I still look ridiculous with this Christmas sweater though." He says, before looking at Steve's sweater. "Though, yours is even more ridiculous." He takes a long drink of whatever alcohol that's in his cup, before indicating over to Bruce. "Ol' Bruce has the best one I think."

Steve looks over towards Bruce, to find him wearing a red sweater with a picture of the Hulk's face on it wearing a Santa hat. He's got to admit, Bruce definitely has the best one yet.

"Hey, Bruce." Steve calls, getting the attention of Bruce Banner. "Where'd you get your sweater from?"

This causes Bruce to look down at his sweater, before looking to Steve. "Oh, Wanda had found it on Amazon and suggested that I get it." He says. "I'm not so sure what the Hulk thinks about it though."

"It's probably not best to find out what he thinks right now, is it?" Bucky asks. "We don't want a, 'code green' is it?"

Bruce nods. "Yeah, that wouldn't be such a good idea." He says. "Though, honestly I think he wouldn't really like it as he won't be able to have one in his size."

They all laugh at that, and just sit at the bar talking and drinking together. Though, unfortunately for both Steve and Bucky, they can't get drunk, and that pretty much spoils all the fun in drinking. Well, that's what Bucky thinks anyway.

"Honestly, this sucks not being able to get drunk." Bucky sighs.

"You could go and find Thor and get some of that Asgardian juice," Sam suggests. "That might be strong enough to get even you drunk."

Bucky spins round on his stool, looking through the crowd of people to try and spot that big blond Asgardian. Though, he's not sure where exactly Thor would be. But he most certainly does want a stronger drink right now. Especially when all the music that is playing, is fucking Christmas music.

The only problem is, he doesn't really want to get up and go search for Thor, and would rather just stay sitting here at the bar. Or get Steve to go find Thor for him...

"Stevie." Bucky starts, turning to Steve. "Can you please go and find Thor for me, and ask if we can have some of his Asgardian juice or whatever?"

Steve looks out through the crowd of people, before sighing. "I'll be right back." He promises, before getting up to go look for Thor.

"Too lazy to go find him yourself, Barnes?" Sam asks.

"No. I'm just not good with large crowds of people." Bucky says, turning to Sam. "If it was just all us Avengers here, then I'll be cool. But if I have to interact with people who I don't even know? Then I can't do that." He explains, before looking over at Bruce. "You get what I'm saying, right?" He asks.

Bruce nods. "Well, mostly." He says. "But, yes. I understand what you're saying."

Sam just laughs a little, shaking his head. Taking a sip of his drink.

Steve comes back over to them not that much longer with Thor following along next to him. But as Steve takes up his seat at the bar once more, Thor goes round to the other side of the table round where all the alcohol is.

"I hear someone is in need of a stronger drink." Thor states, looking towards Bucky as he gets out a small bottle of some sort of liquid that Bucky assumes is the Asgardian juice or whatever Sam was referring to. "Do you think you can handle it, Barnes?" Thor asks, pushing a glass over towards Bucky with some of the liquid inside.

Bucky shrugs. "Well, I can't get drunk off alcohol anymore from this bastardized serum." He says. "Maybe this stuff is strong enough to have an affect on on me."

He grabs the glass from Thor, sniffing at it at first, before taking a sip. The taste he finds, isn't really something he finds himself liking at first. But it definitely tastes a hell of a lot stronger than what he was drinking before.

"The taste is, not really my thing." Bucky starts, taking another sip. "But it definitely tastes a hell of a lot stronger." He says. "I think I could get drunk off of this stuff." Taking another larger sip, he stares at the golden liquid. "Okay, second taste, not so bad. Maybe the taste is my type of thing."

Thor smiles at him as Bucky sculls the last of the drink back, coughing just a little. "Good man, Barnes." Thor says. "Have I ever mentioned to you that out of you and Steve, I quite like you more?"

"Hey! You've known me longer!" Steve exclaims, faking hurt.

"You jealous, Steve?" Bucky asks, bumping his shoulder against Steve's. "Thor, another round, please." He says, turning back to Thor, holding his glass out.

Thor nods, smiling as he refills Bucky's glass, but this time, with more of the drink. Thor even offers up some of the drink to Steve, who with some convincing from Bucky, agrees to having a glass. The other alcohol in here doesn't affect him, so he might as well have a glass of something that will.

For the rest of the night, Steve and Bucky mainly stay round near the bar, watching everyone else interact and dance with each other. Bruce had gone back up to his floor later on, saying that he doesn't want to stay down here for too long, and have too much to drink. Sam on the other hand, had gone off somewhere in the crowd of people, leaving the two old super soldiers to just sit together at the bar sipping away at their Asgardian booze from Thor.

Both Steve and Bucky don't want to drink the Asgardian booze too fast and get drunk way too quick, so they're taking it slow. There's also the fact that neither of them have gotten drunk in many years, and they just want to take it slow.

"Hey, Steve." Bucky says, getting Steve's attention. "Never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually having fun."

Steve smiles at him, patting him on the back. "Good for you, Buck." He says. "And it'll do you good to not be shut away on our floor so often."

Bucky nods, agreeing with Steve on that. Though he can't really leave the tower all that much until his sentence is over, which right now he isn't too sure on when that is exactly. He can still leave the tower though, he just has restrictions that he has to follow.

"I might be having fun, and actually starting to feel a little tipsy." Bucky says. "But this music, is still terrible." He states, before turning to Steve. "Promise me that if I get way too drunk and start singing along to this terrible Christmas music, that you'd get me outta here as fast as you can and back up to our floor?"

Steve nods, not entirely sure if he can really promise that he would. "I'll try." He says. "But I can't make any promises, hun."

Bucky just shakes his head, laughing as he takes another sip of my drink. "Alright, that sounds fair enough." He says. "But I can't believe I'm actually enjoying myself."

Steve doesn't say anything, just sets his drink down on the table, and leans over to pull Bucky in closer to him. Bucky too sets his drink down on the table, before he's pulling Steve in to kiss him.

Though, even though the kiss starts out short and sweet, it doesn't take long for it to become heated and they're heading up to their floor of the tower for some alone time. But not before taking their drinks with them. Cause after all, the last time they had drunken sex with each other was back in the 30s, _and_ the Asgardian booze is the only thing that is even managing to get the two of them drunk.

And they're _totally_ not going to waste this opportunity to have drunken sex once again....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna mention now that the last chapter may or may not be posted tomorrow. I still need to finish writing it, and I'll be busy tomorrow, so it may take me a couple days to post it if it's not posted tomorrow.


	10. Merry Christmas, Kiss My Ass

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I apologize for not getting this chapter up sooner. But it's up now, and that's all that matters!
> 
> Also, does this chapter being a bit longer make up for me not updating it sooner? It's close to 4k words _(3840 words to be exact... well, according to Google Docs at least)_ , and usually my chapters that I write tend to range from 1k words to 2k words. I have been trying to write longer chapters though,

As soon as Bucky wakes up cuddled up to Steve, he really doesn’t want to get up at all. Especially not when he realizes what today is….

It’s Christmas day, and Bucky could care less. He’d rather just sleep all day instead of going down into the shared living room with the others and open Christmas presents. But he knows very well that as soon as Steve wakes up, then he’s got no choice but to get up also.

Right now though, Bucky is just going to try and get comfy and _maybe_ try and get some more sleep until Steve wakes up. Honestly though, he doesn’t think that he’ll be able to get much sleep or fall asleep at all, as Steve is sure to wake up soon. Then he’ll _have_ to get up, and he really doesn’t want to. But he really doesn’t have a choice in the matter.

At least Steve is still asleep for now, so he doesn’t have to get up straight away. Unless of course, one of the others come and get them. If they do though, they’ll probably get something thrown at them, courtesy of Bucky.

He actually wouldn’t put it past Clint to be crawling round in the air vents right now to come and get them. If he is, the air vents aren’t going to keep him safe from Bucky going to throw something at him, or shooting at the vents with his gun that he always keeps beside the bed in case of emergencies.

Pulling the blankets closer to him, as he rests his head on Steve’s chest. He’s not sure what time it is right now, but he definitely is not moving to get up and see. He’s comfortable right where he is, and there is no way that he is getting up from this spot. At least, not for a little while. Though, he would prefer to stay here all day. He’s not too keen on hanging round with the others all day for Christmas and open gifts.

“Bucky, I know you’re awake.” Steve murmurs, pulling Bucky closer to him, and wrapping his arms around his waist.

Bucky freezes at that. _Shit. Steve’s awake…_ He really was hoping that Steve would stay asleep for a little while longer, so he can just stay here without having to worry about getting up so soon. But now that Steve _is_ already awake, it seems that he may have to get up soon. Which he really doesn’t want to do….

“No, I’m not awake, Stevie.” Bucky says, not daring to move. “I’m still sleeping.”

“I highly doubt that, Buck.” Steve says. “We’re going to have to get up soon you know.”

Bucky groans in annoyance at that. He knew that Steve would say that. “I don’t want to though, Steve.” He says. “I want to stay right here.”

“Well…” Steve starts, running his fingers through Bucky’s hair, as Bucky moves closer to him. “We don’t need to get up straight away. We can stay in bed for a bit longer.” He says. “Or at least until one of the others come up here to get us.”

“Good.” Bucky grumbles, burying his head in Steve’s chest. “Though I’m still not gonna get up.” He says, his voice muffled by Steve’s shirt and chest.

Sighing, Steve shakes his head, as he wraps his arms back around Bucky. He knew very well that Bucky would protest towards that, and he _knows_ that once it’s time to actually get up and go down into the main living room where the others will be waiting for them, that Bucky will definitely not want to get up. Steve may just have to carry him down there if he chooses not to cooperate.

Honestly though, Steve probably _is_ going to have to carry Bucky out of bed and down to the others. He may complain, but it’s more than likely how it’s going to end up happening unfortunately

He’s just not sure when they’ll be going down there is all. It is currently eight in the morning though, according to the time on the digital clock on the bedside table though. The others are probably already down there waiting for them. But they’re going to have to wait a bit longer, as Bucky wants to stay in bed for a little while longer, and Steve has no choice but to comply to his wishes for just a little bit longer.

“We really should be heading down to the others soon.” Steve says, after about half an hour. “I know you don’t want to, but they’re probably all already down there waiting for us.”

Bucky - who was unfortunately still awake - sighs in frustration. “I don’t care.” He grumbles. “I’m not getting out of this bed.”

Now comes the difficult part. Getting Bucky out of bed. Now this is going to be an absolute mission, and Steve knows it. Just hopefully Bucky will be okay with being carried down to the others. Chances are that he won’t be though….

“Bucky, we need to go down to the others.” Steve sighs. “Then straight after we’ve had the Christmas dinner with the others, I promise you we can head back on up here, and you can sleep it all off.”

Bucky huffs, moving around so he’s looking at Steve. “I don’t give a fuck, Steve.” He says. “Neither do I give a damn about Christmas any more.” He sighs, sitting up and folding his arms across his chest. “It’s not like I even deserve to celebrate it anyway, after all that I’ve done over the past years.” He mumbles.

But Steve still managed to catch all that Bucky had just said. And quite frankly, Steve disagrees with him.

“Bucky, listen to me.” He starts. “You absolutely _do_ deserve to celebrate Christmas. What you did all those years, wasn’t your fault. Hydra had control of your mind, but you no longer need to worry about them any more.” He says, sitting up, and grabbing a hold of Bucky’s hands. “You’re free from everything that Hydra had done to you. Your don’t have to worry about them any more. You can allow yourself to have fun.”

Bucky doesn’t look at Steve, just turns his head away. He knows that Steve is right. But that still doesn’t make him feel any less guilty for what Hydra had made him do. All those deaths were still from his hands, and Bucky believes that that makes him responsible for all the deaths that Hydra made him commit.

“You’re a victim of it all too.” Steve says. He goes to say more, but Bucky is quick to cut him off.

“Don’t you dare say I’m a victim as much as all those people Hydra forced me to kill.” Bucky almost growls, snapping his head up to look at Steve.

Steve nods. “Okay, but you’re still a victim of it all too, James.” He says. “It’s all Hydra’s fault.” He then sighs. “None of this would’ve happened if I had tried harder to save you back on that train.”

Bucky sighs. “You still blaming yourself for that?” He asks, shaking his head. “It’s not your fault, Steve. Never was, and never will be.”

Steve is quiet for a bit as he looks away from Bucky at that. He still blames himself for not trying harder to save Bucky after the incident on the train back in 44. He knows it’s technically not his fault, but that doesn’t mean he blames himself for it any less. He _still_ thinks that he should’ve tried harder to save Bucky. If he had, then none of this would’ve happened.

“Come on, the others will be waiting,” Steve sighs, not wanting to continue on with this conversation, as he starts to get up out of bed, much to Bucky’s protests. “I _will_ carry you down there if you don’t get up, Buck.”

“Carry me then.” Bucky shrugs, stretching out on the bed, already missing Steve’s contact.

Sighing, Steve tugs on his arms, trying to get him to sit up. It’s a bit of a struggle, but eventually Steve has Bucky hoisted up over his shoulder, and he’s carrying him down to the main living room area where the others should be waiting for the two of them. Much to Bucky’s displeasure….

“Whoa! Fucking be careful, Steve!” Bucky exclaims, grabbing a hold of the wall where Steve had almost knocked his head into. “Are you trying to knock me out or something?” He asks, attempting to knee Steve in the stomach, though it doesn’t work too well.

Steve laughs a little at that, patting Bucky on the ass. “Sorry about that, Buck.” He says. “Won’t happen again.”

Bucky just grumbles in response as he has no choice but to stare at Steve’s ass as he’s carried down to the others. If it were any other situation, he wouldn’t mind having to stare at Steve’s ass and the floor, but right now, he’s not too happy about it. Especially the circumstances surrounding where they’re headed.

He’d definitely rather just stay in bed all day and sleep. Or watch movies or TV shows. Or reading…. Anything is better than having to socialize with the others. Though he supposes one ups on this, is that there’ll be food. That alone kind of has his interest, but other than that, he’s definitely not interested in socializing with the others.

Maybe he can ask Thor about having more of that Asgardian booze. Maybe if he were to be a little drunk, then he may actually enjoy this all….

“Steve, are we nearly down there already?” He asks. “I can feel all the blood start rushing to my head.” He complains.

“We’re nearly there, Bucky.” Steve assures him.

Sure enough, they arrive onto the floor where the others are already waiting seated around on all the couches. Though, how long exactly they’ve been waiting for Steve and Bucky to finally get down there is unknown.

“Have a bit of trouble, Rogers?” Natasha snickers, as Steve sets Bucky down on the couch next to her.

“The guy’s trying to kill me, Nat.” Bucky jokes, turning to the redhead next to him. “He almost made me whack my head into the wall. Our floor has enough dents on the walls without Steve adding any more!”

“Uh, what do I hear about there being dents on the walls in _my_ tower?” Tony asks, walking into the room with a mug of coffee. “What the hell do you two grandpas get up to up there?”

Bucky just rolls his eyes at him, and stretches out on the couch as much as he can with both Natasha and Steve sitting next to him. Really, he’s just stretched out on Steve, with his feet right next to Natasha. Which he now realizes probably isn’t a very good idea. Cause it’s… well… Natasha.

“Get your feet off the couch, James.” Natasha says, pushing Bucky’s feet off the couch, almost causing him to fall off. Luckily Steve has his arms around his waist so he can’t fall off onto the floor.

He just glares at her, before sitting back up on the couch, moving closer to Steve, who doesn’t seem to be wanting to let him go any time soon. But, Bucky is fine with that. For now anyway.

“Well, are we gonna do this, or what?” Bucky asks, after awhile with no one making a move to exchange the Christmas gifts sitting under the tree.

“Merry Christmas to you too, Frosty.” Tony says.

“Merry Christmas, kiss my ass.” He says back, just wanting to get this all over with already.

He could honestly not give a crap about this time of year these days. Before the war, sure he would care. But now? He finds himself just not caring. Partly because he feels as though he doesn’t deserve to celebrate it. That he’s no longer worthy to celebrate Christmas. But really, he just finds himself not caring for Christmas at all. Not to mention all the Christmas music that is being played at this time of year is honestly terrible, and he’d rather go back into cryo than have to listen to that music.

“Can we just get this over with already?” He asks. “I want to go back to bed.”

“I agree with Bucky.” Clint states. “Can we exchange gifts now, and then get food?”

It doesn’t take too long until everyone is sitting on the floor with a pile of gifts addressed to them sitting in front of them. And even though Bucky’s pile is slightly smaller than everyone else’s piles, it’s still a lot, and the most amount of gifts he’s ever received. He honestly can’t believe that the others actually got him stuff, even when he doesn’t really interact with them at all, so he must’ve been quite difficult to find gifts for.

“Seeing as it’s Frosty’s first Christmas in the 21st century, I think he should go first.” Tony says, catching Bucky by surprise.

He wasn’t expecting to be the first one to open gifts, and he feels almost put on the spot at that. But he simply nods his head, before looking down at his pile of Christmas presents. Some wrapped more neatly than the others.

Saving Steve’s gift till last, he sets that aside - which honestly looks to be the largest gift on his pile - and goes straight for the one with the purple wrapping paper addressed to him from Wanda. He’s not sure what to expect when he unwraps the wrapping paper and opens the box, but whatever he was expecting, what’s in the box he finds to be better.

Inside the box, is some new pens, a new journal - a Lord of the Rings one at that. There also is another box inside it, and as Bucky opens that up, he finds a Lord of the Rings mug, with some chocolates inside. But that’s not all, there’s still a jar of what appears to be some sort of jam or something similar.

“It’s plum jam.” Wanda informs him before he can ask. “Steve said you liked plums, so I made you some plum jam.”

Bucky smiles at her. “Thank you, Wanda. I love it.” He says, touched that she’d make the jam for him herself.

The next present he picks up is addressed from Natasha, and Bucky almost finds himself nervous about what she’s gotten him. He’s not sure why really. Maybe it’s because he’s a little wary around her to begin with. Though, he’s sure there’s nothing to be concerned about with what she’s gotten him.

Unwrapping it, he finds chocolate, a new journal, a fifty dollar Starbucks gift card which he is definitely going to be putting to good use, though he’s not entirely sure how they work. He’ll have to get Steve to help him with that. The last thing Natasha has gotten him, sparks his attention more than the other stuff. It’s a Swiss army knife. In fact, it looks to be a Captain America themed one.

“Should I be concerned why a Captain America themed Swiss army knife exists?” He asks, looking over at Natasha.

“There’s weirder Captain America merchandise than a Swiss army knife, James.” Natasha says. “Do you like it? There wasn’t any Winter Soldier ones.”

Bucky shakes his head. “No, Nat. I love it.” He assures her. “And, I doubt they’d make anything with my face on them in the first place.”

The next gift he opens is from Vision. Though it’s just a fifty dollar gift card for Barnes and Noble, he appreciates it nonetheless. He doesn’t really expect much from the others anyway, so whatever he gets, he’s absolutely fine with.

From Rhodes, he gets a new journal and pens along with another fifty dollar gift card to Barnes and Noble. Bucky definitely is going out book shopping once this Christmas season has all died down.

Thor gets him a bottle of some of that Asgardian booze, and Bucky is very pleased with that. Considering it’s the only thing that even manages to get him drunk.

He wasn’t expecting to get anything from Peter, even though he himself did get the kid something, so seeing a gift addressed to him from Peter was a nice surprise. And considering it’s all space, he’s very happy with it. Especially when he sees the big book about space. The NASA shirt and hat is definitely a nice gift as well, along with the chocolate.

Clint’s gift to him, now Bucky can’t help but find himself a little confused by the grumpy looking cat plush.

“It’s what you remind me of, Bucky.” Clint says. “A grumpy cat.”

“Thanks, Clint.” Bucky huffs, smiling.

Despite being overall confused on the contents of the gift from Clint, a grumpy cat plush, a bag of coffee, and lots of chocolate, he loves it either way. Though, he’s beginning to think he might have a bit too much chocolate now. But it’s not like he’s going to complain about the amount of chocolate he now has.

“Jesus Christ, Sam….” Bucky breathes, opening up Sam’s gift to him to find a Lord of the Rings model figure of Frodo Baggins from Weta Workshop. “This is… amazing.” He says, blown away on how amazing the figure looks.

The figure, was of Frodo sitting on a tree with a book in one hand, and a pipe in the other. Though the figure isn’t really all that big, it still looks absolutely amazing, and Bucky absolutely love it. Along with The Hobbit themed mug that Sam has gotten him along with the figure.

“Steve said you’ve really gotten into the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and I found those online so I got them for you.” Sam shrugs. “I’m glad you like it, man.”

The next gift is from Bruce, and as Bucky opens it, he finds a few new journals, a forty dollar Starbucks gift card, and a CD by the band Muse which he’s rather formed an interest in.

“I know it’s not much, but Steve didn’t really give us much to go on with what you like.” Bruce says. “He mentioned you quite like the band Muse though.”

Bucky shakes his head, looking over at Bruce. “No, it’s perfect, Bruce.” He says. “I wasn’t really expecting to get much to begin with.” He looks down at all his gifts that he’s opened up so far. “I wasn’t expecting to get anywhere near as much as I’ve already got.”

The last gift aside from the one from Steve, is from Tony. Though, it’s only an envelope, but Bucky isn’t really expecting much from Tony. So, as soon as he opens it to find a two hundred dollar Barnes and Noble gift card, and a one hundred dollar Starbucks gift card, it definitely comes as a shock to him. He knows that Tony has a shit load of money, but he didn’t think that Tony would spend _this_ much on him.

“Tony.” He starts, looking over at him. “You didn’t have to spend _this_ much on me.” He says.

Tony just waves him off. “It’s all good, Frosty.” He says. “I’ve got more money than I even know what to do with it.”

As Bucky looks down at the last gift sitting in front of him, he can’t help but smile at the fact that it’s the one from Steve. He almost doesn’t want to open it, but in wanting to find out what Steve got him overpowers him not wanting to open it. And when he does open it and sees the painting at the top, he has to hold back the tears.

Steve has gifted him a painting of the both of them with the Howling Commandos, and Bucky absolutely loves it. The fact that Steve painted it himself is even better, as he’s always loved his artwork.

“The Howlies.” He chokes, before turning to Steve. “Stevie, I absolutely love it.” He says, setting the painting down on the floor, before hugging him tightly.

Steve smiles, hugging him back. “I knew you’d love it, Buck.” He says.

It takes a couple minutes for Bucky to pull out of the hug, but when he does, he goes back to grabbing whatever else Steve had bought for him.

“Oh, fuck yeah, Steve!” He exclaims, grabbing one of the other items out of the box. “LOST seasons one to six on DVD? You fucking rock!”

Bucky had been meaning to buy himself copies of his favorite show, LOST on DVD for awhile now so he doesn’t have to keep searching it up on NetFlix all the time. So the fact that Steve has bought him a boxset of all six seasons, definitely makes him very happy.

The other item that Steve has gotten Bucky, is a boxset of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit to add to Bucky’s already growing Tolkien collection. He’s not even sure how many different copies of the books he even has now. But these new copies to add to his collection are definitely very gorgeous, and they’ll fit perfectly on his Tolkien shelf.

Thinking that that’s all of his gifts, Bucky moves to get rid of the ripped wrapping paper and boxes around him, but stops as Tony clears his throat, seemingly trying to get his attention.

“There’s still one more thing from me, Bucky.” Tony says. “Well, actually it’s kind of from all of us, but mainly from me.”

Bucky looks over at him in confusion, before he notices Vision walking in, carrying a large circular object. He sets it down in front of him, and Bucky looks around at everyone before he’s opening it.

And it’s safe to say that Bucky absolutely loves it, and he can’t believe that he finally has one of his own.

“My own shield.” He whispers, running his fingers across the metal.

The shield is around the same size as Steve’s, but instead of being red white and blue, this one is mostly silver with a light blue circle in the middle with a darker blue ring around it and a white star right in the middle. This shield is all that Bucky finds he’s ever wanted, and he loves it. He has to admit that he used to be pretty jealous at Steve for his shield. But now that he has his own, he doesn’t have to be.

“Merry Christmas, Buck.” Steve says.

Bucky looks over at Steve, before wrapping his arms around him in another hug. “Merry Christmas, Steve.” He says. “I love you so much.”

And just like that, Bucky finds himself enjoying the rest of the day, and spending Christmas with the rest of the Avengers, as he realizes that they all really do care about him.

Just maybe he doesn’t need to keep on disliking Christmas so much, and actually enjoy himself once more…. After all, there _really_ isn’t anything to stop him from enjoying Christmas once more, and enjoying himself at this time of year.

\-------

**This is a picture of the Frodo Baggins model figure that Sam got Bucky in this, just if any of you want to know.**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, it's all finished! I hope that whoever read this enjoyed it!! Cause I had a lot of fun writing it!
> 
> Thank you all for reading!!


End file.
